Bill-fold.



H. J. COLLIS.

v BILL FOLD.

APPLICATION I'ILED MAR. 25,-1911.

1,026,787. Patented May 21, 1912.

HENRY JAMES COLLIS, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BILL-FOLD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

y Patented May 21, 1912.

Application filed March 25, 1911. Serial N0. 616,903.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY JAMES COLLIS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bill- Folds, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bill folds, and it has for its object to provide a simple and improved device of this character which can be employed in a plurality of ways at the pleasure of the user.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a plan view showing the outer side of the device. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the inner side of the device. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing one manner of using the improved bill fold. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line a'm, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing another manner of usin the improved bill fold. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on the line yy, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on the line Z'-Z, Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing another manner of using the improved bill fold. Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view on the line w-w, Fig. 8.

Corresponding parts in all. the figures are denoted by the same reference characters.

The improved bill fold is constructed in its general entirety of pliable material, preferably leather, and comprises a body blank, 1, preferably in one piece and of elongated rectangular form. At one longitudinal edge, 2, of the body strip 1 are provided flaps, 33, adapted to fold down over the inner face of the body strip, which flaps are secured to the edge 2, preferably by means of aline of stitching, as at 4., extending along said edge.

The body strip 1 is divided into three wing areas by two transverse fold lines, 5-5, the middlewing area, as at 6, and the end wing areas, as at 77, being substantially of corresponding size and the fold lines 55 being adapted to fold inwardly with respect to the inner side of the body strip. The body strip is also provided with a longitudinal fold line, as at 8, approximately at its center and intersecting the transverse fold lines 5-5 at right angles, said longitudinal central fold line being also adapted to fold inwardly with respect to the inner face of the body strip. The body strip is also provided with a transverse fold line, as at 17, in the middle wing area 6, between the transverse fold lines 5-5 and intersecting the central longitudinal fold line 8. This fold line 17 is approximately at the transverse center of the body strip and its section beyond the longitudinal fold line 8 at the slde of the body strip carrying the flaps 3-3 is adapted to fold inwardly with respect to the' inner face of the body strip, while its section at the opposite side of said longitudinal fold line 8 is adapted to fold outwardly with respect to the outer face of the body strip.

I prefer to employ two flaps, as herein shown, which extend respectively at the end wing areas 7-7 of the body strip, within the plane of the transverse fold lines 5-5 and the longitudinal central fold line 8. It will be understood, however, that if desired the flap member could extend continuously and longitudinally of the body edge 2 and be provided with transverse fold lines corresponding to the body fold lines 5--5 and 17, and that the flap member could be integral with the body strip instead of being fastened thereto by the stitching 4. At the longitudinal body edge, 9, opposite the edge 2, I preferably provide perforations, as at 10, which may be ornamentally arranged in series to provide a border finish for the body strip 1 and which serve, by reason of the texture of the pliable material ofwhich the device is constructed, to provide a roughened surface which will enhance the frictional retention of the inclosed bills or bank notes against slipping. The perforated border 10 may, if desired, be also provided at the end edges and edge 2 of the body strip. 7

Within the area of the middle wing area 6, at one side the central longitudinal fold 8, a fastening device, as at 11, is carried by the body strip, and a fastening device, as at 12, is correspondingly carried within the area of one of the end wing areas 7, which fastening devices project at the outer face of the body strip. The wing area 7 at the end of the body strip opposite from that carrying the fastening device 12, carries a flap or strap, as at 14, extending beyond the end of the body strip and provided at its projecting portion with fastening means, as at 15,

11 and 12. I have herein shown the fastening means as constituted by studs 11 and 12 and a socket 15 having a snap engagement with said studs, but it will be understood that any other suitable or adapted construction of said fastening devices may be employed, for instance the fastening devices 11 and 12 may be constituted by buckles and the strap extension 14 may beperforated to engage therewith.

The connection of the flap or strap extension 14 with the body strip 1 preferably comprises a slot, as at 16, in the body strip, through which the inner end, 19, of the strap is inserted from the outer face and secured to the inner face by suitable stitching, as at 18, but it will be understood that the strap 14 may be secured in any other suitable manner, for instance by stitching its inner end against either the inner face or outer face of the body strip, or it may be constituted by an integral extension of the body strip. The portion of the transverse fold lines 55 which extends beyond the central longitudinal fold line 8, at the side opposite the body flaps 33, is also adapted to' fold outwardly with respect to the outer face of the body strip.

The operation and advantages of my improved bill fold will be readily understood. By reason of the improved construction as herein described, with the relative arrangement of the plural fastening means 11 and I at the transverse folds 5-5, by first turning in the outer end wing area 7 carrying the fastening device 12, so that it rests over the middle wing area 6, and then turning in the end wing area 7 which carries the fastening strap 14, so that it rests over said other wing area 7 and covers said fastening device 12, when the strap fastening 15 can be engaged with the fastening device 11 which projects at the outer face of the middle wing area 6, to secure the bill fold in closed position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. WVhen it is desired to employ the bill fold in the manner indicated in Fig. 5, the half of the body strip 1 opposite the body flaps 33 is first folded inwardly at the central longitudinal fold 8, so that it rests over the other half of the body strip and the body flaps 33, and then the outer folded wing area 7 which carries the fastening device 12 is folded down over i the face of the middle folded wing area 6,

one half of the dividing fold 5 between said Wing areas folding inwardly and the other half folding outwardly, and then the other folded end wing area .7 which carries the fastening strip 14 is correspondingly folded down so that it rests over said other folded wing area 7 and covers said fastening device 12, when the fastening means 15 of the strap 14 can be engaged with the fastening device 11, to secure the bill fold in closed position, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. WVhen the bill fold is employed in the manner indicated in Fig. 8, one-half of the body strip 1 is first folded at the central longitudinal fold 8 in the manner above described with relation to Fig. 5, and then one-half of the folded body is folded down over the other half, at the central transverse fold 17, the sections of which at opposite sides the longitudinal fold line 8 respectively fold inwardly and outwardly, when the fastening means of the strap 14 can be engaged with the fastening device 12 at the Wing area 7 opposite from that carrying the strap 14, to secure the bill fold in closed position, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the detail construction and arrangement of parts as herein shown and described, as it is manifest that variations and modifications therein may be resorted to, in the adaptation of my invention to varying conditions of use, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and improvements. I therefore reserve the right to all such variations and modifications as properly fall within the scope of my invention and the terms of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A bill fold, comprising a pliable body strip having a plurality of transverse fold lines and a longitudinal fold line crossing said transverse fold lines, a plurality of fastening devices at the outer face of said body strip, said fastening devices being respectively located at points intermediate of said transverse fold lines and at one side of said longitudinal fold line, and fastening means carried by said body strip at one end and at one side of said longitudinal fold line and in line with said plurality of fastening devices and engageable with one of said fastening devices when the body strip is folded, whereby the bill fold can be employed in differently folded conditions.

2. A bill fold, comprising a pliable body strip having a plurality of transverse fold lines and a longitudinal fold line crossing said transverse fold lines,- one or more flaps projecting at the inner face of said body strip and extending over areas intermediate of said transverse and longitudinal fold lines, a plurality of fastening devices at the outer face of said body strip, said fastening devices being respectively located at points intermediate of said transverse fold lines and at one side of said longitudinal fold line, and fastening means carried by said body strip at one end and at one side of said longitudinal fold line and in line with said plurality of fastening devices and engageable With one of said fastening devices when the body strip is folded, whereby the bill fold can be employed in differently folded conditions.

3. A bill fold, comprising a pliable body strip having a longitudinal fold line intermediate of its top and bottom edges and a plurality of transverse fold lines extending between its top and bottom edges and crossing said longitudinal fold line, a plurality of fastening devices located at the outer face of said body strip and at one side of said longitudinal fold line, one of said fastening devices being at a point between one of the end edges of the body strip and the first transverse fold line and another of said fastening devices bein at a point between said first transverse fol line and the next transverse fold line, and fastening means carried by said body strip at the end opposite from said fastening devices and beyond the transverse fold line adjacent that end, said fastening means being in line with said plurality of fastening devices and engageable respectively therewith when the body strip is folded in different positions.

In witness whereof I have signed my name in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

HENRY JAMES COLLIS.

\Vitnesses:

KATE A. GALLIGAN, JOHN H. ELDRIDGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

